Nashua South's Jadiel Bomfim, right, battles Nashua North's Samuel Paintsil for the ball during Thursday night's Battle of the Bridge at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – For the second half of the second half in Thursday night’s Battle of the Bridge at Stellos Stadium, the soccer ball was on the other foot for the Nashua High School South Panthers.

And they didn’t like that feeling. But they certainly liked the feeling of escaping with a 1-0 win to remain undefeated (9-0) atop the Division I boys soccer standings.

“We’re a real mentally tough team,” South back Dan Miranda said. “We’ve got that strong will and mentality and that strong will to keep our heads in the game. That’s what helped us.”

They had to stay steady because the Titans did their best to put pressure on the Panthers, pretty much dominating the final 20 minutes and putting pressure on South keeper Leo Kopicko (five saves). The Panthers are usually the ones applying the pressure, but the 2-4 Titans turned those tables.

“I felt like our guys battled,” North coach Josh Downing said. “This is the No. 1 team in the state, undefeated, hasn’t given up many goals. We were in it. … I felt like we had them on their heels.”

“We knew coming in they’re always tough,” South coach Tom Bellen said. “That’s the best I’ve seen them play, and it’s a rivalry game. I think we started solving (the pressure) toward the end. They were creating chaos and did a good job of it, and we had to settle ourselves down.”

South scored the game’s only goal at 27:01 of the first half thanks to a Titan turnover. Sammy Hadouche pounced on it, and fed Jadiel Bomfim perfectly and he was able to rocket one past North keeper Yazid Poolakal for the 1-0 lead, much to the delight of the Panther student body positioned perfectly in the stands.

“They (South) pressure the defense very, very well,” Downing said. “We had a moment where we had a brief lapse, they took advantage, and good teams will do that.”

But who would have thought that would be the game’s only score? It almost wasn’t. The North pressure came oh so close when Matthews Ferreira crashed into Kopicko but had just enough on the ball to get it up – but just over the crossbar with about eight minutes to play. Ferreira was slightly shaken up, and never saw how close he came.

“(Kopicko) is fearless,” Bellen said. “He’s a senior keeper who is beginning to get looks at the college level, because he does stuff like that. He’ll come out, and it saves games for you, really. That’s what we need, right?”

Bomfim has been a difference maker for South.

“I’ve been working really hard all summer, and getting better every practice,” Bomfim said. “Tonight’s goal was all we needed.”

Barely.

“We’re undefeated, right, so people are coming to play us,” Bellen said. “We need to stay mentally strong no matter who it is – especially rivalries.”

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